We Got a Lot o' Livin' to Do
by I'mafreakinStarshipRanger
Summary: On a special mission, Specs and Krayonder are sent back to 1957 to pose as high school stdents. Will they be discovered?
1. Chapter 1

Krayonder and Specs stood before Admiral Lang, both nervous and excited. They'd never been called to do a special mission, just the two of them. Taz and Up were always the ones to get chosen.

"In 1957, a man by the name of Jason Rellis had been working with nuclear technology," Lang explained. "He came up with the strongest nuclear weapon known to man. This weapon, however, never made it out of the blueprint stage. He decided it was too dangerous to be put to use, so he hid the plans. The plans were later found, and stored in a government storage facility."

Krayonder nodded, but he was very confused. What did something someone did thousands of years ago have to do with their mission.

"Doctor Spaceclaw had escaped prison and gotten a hold of these plans."

Specs gasped. "he could use the weapon to destroy the base!"

"And every base that the G.L.E.E has."

"So, like, where do we come in?" Krayonder asked.

"The G.L.E.E has recently perfected its time-travel technology. We want to use this to send you two back in time to get him to destroy the plans."

The two were awestruck. Time-travel was something they only thought would be possible in the movies.

"But sir," Specs said. "If we disturb anything in the past, it may affect the future in ways that-"

"We have taken this matter into account," Lang interrupted. "But this is the only way. You two will have to keep a low profile, which is why you will posing as high-school students." he held up a black and white photograph of a blonde-haired girl. "This is Sarah Rellis, Jason Rellis' daughter. You will attend school with her, and it is your responsibility to become her friend so you can get to her father. You will stay with Robert Wilson, who we have already alerted about you coming."

Lang continued to brief them on things they would need to know to fit in in the 50's, then told them to go get a good night's sleep. As they walked down the hall to their rooms, Krayonder was buzzing with excitement.

"Dude! We're going to the 50's! Do you know what that means?"

"What?"

"Convertibles, milkshakes, and rock 'n roll! Elvis was alive, man! This was probably the single most awesome time period of all time! And, even better, we get to go back to high school!"

Specs raised an eyebrow. "You say this like it's a good thing."

"High school was awesome, man! It was so much fun! Football, prom, being able to goof off and not have anyone care!"

"Really?" She asked. "Because I remember it as being a hell-hole full of arrogant jerks and vain cheerleaders who constantly tormented me as if it was a game."

"Then think of it like this," he grabbed her arm. "You get to start over and have the high school experience that you've always wanted. And if you mess up, it doesn't even matter, because this isn't even real. We're just acting, and after the mission we get to go home."

"I guess it can't be that bad…"

"Exactly! Besides," he put an arm around her. "I'll be there, so you won't be alone."

But all to soon, they were at her door. She ducked out from underneath his arm and punched in her combination into the keypad.

"It's funny to think that we're going to actually have to unlock doors manually tomorrow." She turned around to find him standing much closer to her than he needed to be.

Not that she minded.

"Goodnight, Krayonder."

His eyes were wide, and he suddenly grabbed her hand. His head was spinning, so he just squeezed it and let go.

"Uh… Yeah… See you tomorrow…"

She smiled and closed the door behind her. He stood in front of it for a moment, feeling so damn stupid.

That night, he dreamed that he was in the 50's. Everything looked like it had come right out of the movie _Grease. _He was the cool guy who played the guitar and Specs was his girlfriend. He had a cherry-red convertible that he drove to a diner. They drank milkshakes, and then an Elvis song came on the jukebox. He asked Specs to dance, but she said that she didn't know how. He held out his hand, saying that it was easy, and he could teach her. They danced, laughing and grinning without a care in the world. She looked into his eyes and said that he was the most amazing thing ever. He leaned in, his lips so close to hers and-

_Beep! Beep! _

He really hated that alarm clock.

He didn't need to pack anything, because everything they owned, even their toothbrushes, could give them away. That was what the hard part was going to be; the lack of technology. He knew that Specs would probably go insane. And an angry Specs was never good.

Angry Specs was still pretty hot, though.

He walked down to the mess hall for a quick breakfast before he had to save the world. Specs was already sitting at a table, coffee in hand. She looked tired, as if she hadn't slept a wink all night.

"Heeey!" He said, sitting down with some orange juice and toast. "Good morning!"

She nodded, sipping her drink.

"Dude? Did you sleep at all last night."

"No."

"Dude!" he exclaimed. "Why not?"

"I… I was nervous… about today."

"Why."

She sighed. "I really don't want to go back to high school, Krayonder. You have no idea what it was like for me. I'm not the kind of person who is able to talk to people. And I know it's illogical, and that I should only focus on the mission-"

"It's not illogical." he reached for hand across the table. "Part of the mission is fitting in. Living the whole high school experience. And I know that's, like, gonna be hard for you, but you're forgetting one thing."

"What?" her cheeks were turning pink.

"I'm gonna be here. We're gonna be going to high school together, which is going to be awesome. I wish I had a friend as awesome as you in high school. And we're gonna stick together."

"Promise?"

He drew an x over his heart. "Cross my heart and hope to live."

She smiled, then drew an x too. "Cross my heart."

They finished eating, then headed over to Admiral Lang's office. When they got there, they found two suitcases waiting for them.

"Are you two ready?" he asked.

Specs sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Just remember- low profile. You are 17, so no drinking. No mentioning ANYTHING that happens after 1957. And no telling ANYONE about your mission."

They nodded.

"Now, you may experience some nausea as a side affect of time travel, but all that should wear off in an hour or two… or three… You'll be fine!"

It wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing to hear.

They stepped toward the circular machine. Specs' heart was beating fast, but the reassuring smile on Krayonder's face was all she needed.

Maybe high school wouldn't b so bad.

Nothing could be too bad with Krayonder around.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, Specs did not sleep well that night. She laid in the bed in the room that Robert had given her, staring up at the ceiling. When she had graduated high school, she had been so glad to never have to go back again. She was the girl who always got picked on, who people laughed about. She was the ugly nerd girl who had no friends. Even though this wasn't her real life, and she would be able to go home as soon as she destroyed the plans, she couldn't help but feel a familiar sick feeling in her stomach. And she knew it was not from the time travel.

She must have eventually fallen asleep, because she woke up to Krayonder knocking on her door, saying that breakfast was ready. She groggily got up out of bed and went over to the suitcase that Lang had given her.

She pulled out a lump of pink and frills. "What the…?"

Downstairs, Krayonder held up two jackets, one leather and one letter jacket. "I can't decide whether I want to go for the jock look, or the greaser look."

Robert looked at the two. Robert Wilson was a nice man with one kid who was in college. He had been a little shocked about the mission, but he was adjusting nicely.

"Just be prepared for some trouble if you decide to be a greaser. The police are always watching those kids, to make sure they don't get in trouble."

"Hmm… It might be better to _not_ be followed by cops. You know, low profile and all." he put the leather one on a chair, and pulled on the letter jacket.

Robert looked at the clock on the wall. "You might want to call your friend down, the bus leaves in seven minutes."

"Specs!" he called up. "We're gonna be late, man!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." her heard her walking down the stairs. "Ugh, I hate the outfits Lang gave me."

Krayonder was too busy staring at her to even register that words were coming out of her mouth. She was wearing a pink poodle-skirt type thing (but minus the poodle.) and a white blouse. She looked… wow. She was really hot. Like, really, _really _hot.

She fiddled with the buttons on the top. "Stupid thing goes way too low."

Had anyone else been thinking the thoughts that Krayonder was thinking about Specs at that moment, he would have punched them. He would have beaten them into a pulp and made them wish they were never born. He was even five seconds away from slapping himself.

"Alright," Robert said, bringing him back to reality. "What are your guy's stories if anyone asks about you?"

"I'm your nephew," Krayonder said. "I'm living with you because I got kicked out of my old school for hijacking the principal's car."

Specs quickly took a bite of toast. "And I'm your friend's daughter. He's in the military, and his wife is very sick, so you are taking care of me."

"Good," Robert handed them each a brown bag with a lunch. "Have a good day at school! Remember-"

"Low, profile," Krayonder nodded. "I know."

He winked. "Have fun."

They walked out the door. the street outside was full of white, two-story houses with red doors and perfectly manicured lawns. It was the perfect image of American suburbia at it's best.

Specs hated it.

And she hated her outfit even more.

"I look utterly ridiculous," she grumbled as they walked down the street to the bus stop.

"You look _great." _Krayonder assured her. _You look supermegafoxyawesomehot. _"And more importantly, you fit in," he gestured to some girls across the street, who were dressed in similar outfits.

"I still could have fit in with something a bit less pink," she crossed her arms.

They got to the bus stop, where a bunch of kids were waiting. They couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. Here they were, legal adults, trying to fit in with teenagers. It was a good thing they both looked a bit young for their age.

"Everybody's staring at us…" Specs whispered.

"Just act like you belong," Krayonder told her. "If you act like you're meant to be here, nobody gets suspicious." he looked over at a group of girls who were standing nearby. He raised an eyebrow at them, making them giggle.

"See? I totally fit in."

Specs looked over at the same group of girls and smiled friendly. But instead of smiling back, they rolled their eyes and turned away.

I looked like not much had changed from 1957 to when she went to high school. She was still a loser.

Well, at least now she was a loser with a friend. That was progress.

The school bus pulled up, and Specs couldn't help but gasp. She knew that a long time ago they has cars with wheels that actually touched the ground instead of hovering, but this thing just looked ridiculous! The only way it even resembled a school bus was that it was yellow and rectangular. It made a loud screeching noise as it stopped.

She climbed on, and her and Krayonder found a seat in the middle. She almost jumped when it started; was it supposed to sound that loud? And when it started moving, she wanted to jump out the window. It was rickety, and it shook with every turn. Now she knew why everybody stopped using cars that didn't hover. If there was a single pothole in the street, she got flung into the window. She was just glad that Krayonder had given her the window seat. If he hadn't, she would've probably fallen into the aisle.

She gripped onto the seat tightly, her eyes clenched shut.

"Whoa," Krayonder said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok, man?"

She nodded and smiled weakly, even though her stomach was churning.

"Hey," the guy in the seat behind them said. "Are you guys new here?"

"Yeah." Krayonder smiled. "I'm Kray, and this is Specs."

"Swell to meet you. I'm Wesley."

They started having a conversation, and Specs was amazed at just how well he was able to talk to someone he just met and not be awkward at all. And he was completely working the 50's teenage look too, using all the right slang without even having to think about it. He was in his element.

They got off the bus at Ann Arbor High School. The building looked very new, and on some sides of the school the cement on the sidewalks was still drying. Spring Break had just ended, and students were milling around excitedly, looking for their friends. Wesley ran off to talk to someone.

"Kray?" Specs asked, chuckling.

"It's cool. And it sounds more normal than Krayonder."

"So you didn't think about letting me have a different name too?"

"Here's the difference," he smiled. "I wont remember if you went by a different name. You, on the other hand, are smart enough to remember."

She laughed, almost forgetting that she was heading into one of the scariest places for her.

Almost.

They walked into the main office to get their locker combinations and schedules. The office lady was an old woman with gray hair who kept giving Krayonder a scary look, as if she could feel the troublemaker vibes radiating off of him.

They compared their schedules to see what classes they had. They had English, gym, Spanish, and history together. Their lockers were also right next to each other.

"Sweet!" Krayonder exclaimed.

He had math first, and she had science. She really wished she had a class with him first, so she wouldn't have to be alone.

"Wait!" he grabbed her arm as she was about to leave.

"What?"

He grinned. "You're gonna be ok, Specs. Don't worry, 'cuz I'm gonna be here for you." he drew an x over his heart.

She did the same and walked away, grinning like crazy. The little fluttery feeling in her stomach was so weird, but she loved it.


	3. Chapter 3

The infamous high school cafeteria. Specs had always spent lunch in the library or out in the courtyard to avoid having to figure out which table she could sit at without disrupting the precious, oh-so-delicate clique system. It was slightly different in the 50's, (the Goth-kids, hipster kids, and Japanese-anime fan groups were not existent yet.) but the same rules still applied; stay with your group, or stay out.

Specs didn't have a group. She hadn't talked to a single person all morning. She was truly the definition of low profile, which was fine by her. The last thing she wanted was to talk to _anyone_. Well, anyone except for Krayonder.

Specs scanned the room for her friend. He'd promised that they'd stick together, but she couldn't help but worry. All her classes with him were after lunch, so she hadn't seen him since before first period. If he'd met some other, cooler people that invited him to sit with them…

Her fears were confirmed when she looked at the table by the windows, the one that seemed to hold the self-proclaimed "popular kids". Sitting next to two pretty girls was Krayonder, smiling and laughing along with them.

He didn't need her. He could get along just fine with the popular kids. All that she could ever do is hold him back.

She started walking to the door, her eyes stinging. It was stupid, caring so much about something so childish. She was a twenty-five year old woman, not a teenager. She couldn't cry in a crowded cafeteria over a boy.

Not again.

She pushed the door open and-

"Wait! Specs!"

Her heart almost stopped. She turned and saw Krayonder waving from across the room. He said something to the girl next to him, who reluctantly scooted over. "Over here!" he called.

He was making room for her. He was making a pretty, popular girl move over so she could have a seat. She walked over to the table, grinning.

"Hey Specs!" Krayonder smiled. He turned to the other people at the table. "This is the girl I was telling you about, this is Specs. Come on, sit down!"

She sat next to him, smiling shyly at the others. "Hello."

He proceeded to introduce her to everyone at the table, two of which she recognized; Wesley from the bus, and Sarah Rellis: the girl from the photograph. Krayonder not only had found their target, but he'd become very well acquainted with her too.

Now Specs understood why Lang chose them instead of Taz and Up. Krayonder was good with socializing and making friends, which could only mean that she was there to pretty much be his babysitter and make sure he didn't get in trouble. Which was fine with her, really. She would never trust him alone in the 50's.

_Especially not now, given the girls that he's hanging out with, _she thought resentfully.

Lunch went by with the other people only really talking to Krayonder, and Krayonder constantly trying to get Specs involved in the conversation. She appreciated his efforts, but was also glad when lunch ended. The walked out of the cafeteria together, heading off to their next class, which they had together.

"Kray!" Sarah called, practically skipping up to them. The flirty little smile she gave him made Specs want to kick her really hard in the shins. "Everybody's going to this diner, _Donna's _after school. You want to come with us?"

He put his arm around Specs. "We'd love to!"

From the annoyed expression on Sarah's face, Specs figured the invitation was not extended to her. But she didn't say anything.

"Swell. Meet me in the parking lot."

Much to Specs' relief, Sarah walked away.

"I don't like her."

"What?" Krayonder asked. "Why not?"

"Just look at her!" she pouted.

"I still don't see your point, man. She looks fine to me."

_Nobody but me is allowed to look at you the way she does, _she thought. "I guess it doesn't matter anyway. Our mission is to become her friend, so that is what we have to do."

The rest of the school day was a busy blur. Their Spanish teacher's accent was almost completely incomprehensible, they had a pop quiz in history, and their gym uniforms were the most horrendous things either of them had ever seen. (Short jumpsuits that had elastic on the waist) The only class that Specs really liked was English, which was taught by a nice, animated young man named Mr. Holmes. They were also reading _Much Ado About Nothing _in class, which made it all the better. Specs was a huge Shakespeare fan, and this was her favorite play.

"Man," Krayonder said as they walked out the door at the end of the day. "I forgot how hard school is. I am, like, so glad I have you here to tutor me… You will tutor me, right?"

Specs laughed at his suddenly panicked expression. "Of course I will."

"Sweet!"

Just as she'd said, Sarah was waiting for them in the parking lot, along with another tall, blonde-haired boy, who she introduced as her twin brother, Vince. They together to his car, and when they go there, Krayonder froze to the spot.

"That. Is. A. Nice. Car!"

Vince smirked. "It's a corvette. Pretty tuff, huh?"

"Totally!" He was completely in awe of the light blue convertible.

"Come on, hop in!"

Vince drove, Sarah got shotgun, and Specs and Krayonder sat in the back. He put his arm around his curly-haired friend. This was what living felt like- the warm sun and breeze on his face, the radio blasting in the car, and a beautiful girl under his arm. Now, it would have been ten trillion times better if he had the courage to kiss that girl, and if Sarah stopped giving him creepy looks, but it was better than nothing.

_Much _better than nothing.

They finally pulled up to _Donna's. _It was a classic, old style diner (well, old to Specs and Krayonder.) that was completely crowded with teenagers. This seemed to be the teenage hangout of the town. Rock music flowed out of the window, along with the smells of french-fries and hamburgers.

Inside, there was no open tables, so they sat at the bar table. Behind the counter was an old man with blue-grey eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Hummel-Anderson!" Vince beamed, leaning on the counter.

"Aw great, you again," he rolled his eyes. "Don't you no-good kids got anything better to do than hang 'round here?"

"Nope. So, Sarah and I'll have the usual, and… what do you two want?"

"I'll have a chocolate milkshake and a basket of fries," Krayonder said. "And she'll have a strawberry milkshake."

"You knew what I wanted to order?" Specs asked as Mr. Hummel-Anderson turned to get their drinks.

"Of course I did." He smiled smugly.

Specs couldn't help but stare at the old man when he gave them their orders. Something about him just seemed so familiar. It was his name, mostly; she knew that she'd heard it somewhere else before, she just couldn't place where.

Some girls came over to talk to Sarah and bat their eyes all fangirl-like at Vince. Krayonder laughed, dipping a fry in his milkshake. "I swear, whoever came up with doing this was a brilliant genius!"

Suddenly, a loud rock song came on. Krayonder's eyes grew wide as he sat up in his seat.

"This song! Are you hearing this, Specs?" he was completely beside himself with joy. "Oh man, I love this song!"

He stood up, holding up a coke bottle as if it was a microphone. "_You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain_!" he sang, grinning. "_Too much love drives a man insane!"_

Everybody in the diner was staring at him. Specs couldn't help feeling slightly awkward with that many eyes in her general direction, even if they weren't really looking at _her. _

"Krayonder," she whispered, "What happened to "low profile"?"

He completely disregarded everything she said. "_You broke my will, but what a thrill! Goodness gracious great balls of fire!" _

Everyone in the diner was cheering as he danced. It was like some stupid, cheesy movie where the main character could just randomly burst into song, and nobody would think that there was anything weird about it at all. It was just odd; the real world didn't work like that.

Then again, this wasn't the real world. This was the fifties.

"_I laughed at love cause I thought it was funny," _

The way he was dancing was strange; the moves required a lot of movement in the hips. It looked like things she'd seen in a lot of old Elvis movies. Except the way he did it was… different. She couldn't find a word for it.

"_but you came along and moooooved me honey!" _

_Seductive,_ that's what it was. He was sex on a stick, and he sang like a dream. Specs wanted to bang her head on the table for letting him turn her mentality to that of a squealy teenage girl's, but it was so true that she couldn't even argue with herself.

"_I've changed my mind, This love is fine. Goodness gracious great balls of fire!"_

It was amazing; the never thought that someone could be so adorable yet so sexy at the same time. It shouldn't have been allowed. All the girls there were giggling and staring at him. If he didn't stop soon, the poor boy was going to start a sex riot.

And that would definitely _not _be low profile

Later that night, Specs was laying on her bed, reading a book. She was debating whether Admiral Lang would be pissed at Krayonder for his little performance or not when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in,"

Krayonder walked in, wearing a pair of striped blue pajamas. "Hey man, I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

He sat down next to her on the bed. "Are you like, mad at me or something? You didn't talk at all during the ride home."

_I didn't talk because I knew that if I opened my mouth, I would bite Sarah's head off for mooning over you so much. _"Oh, I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Yes…"

"Oh, good. I was really worried, man."

He hugged her tight, then stood up. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight…"

Specs sighed as he left. He was clueless. So. Damn. Clueless.

She would've never guessed that on the other side of the door, he was thinking the same thing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry that this is a short one, guys. I promise though, I start trying to finish these sooner. I've just been very busy with this theater stuff at my school. Hope you like it, and thanks for all your reviews so far! I lessthanthree all of you! **

"I… Just… Don't… Get it."

"Well, paying attention might help."

Krayonder buried his face in his hands. She was right though, she always was. But He simply did not understand Shakespeare. All those words… He was almost positive that at least half of those funny sounding words were just made up. There was no way people ever talked like that.

"Ugh," he groaned. "Why do we even have to lean this?"

"Oh, come on, it not that bad. This is one of his best plays."

He stood up, rubbing his temples. "My brain is not meant to process these things!"

"Perhaps we should take a small break?"

"Yes! Oh my god, yes! A break sounds really good right now!"

Specs shut the book. "Alright. But only for a few minutes, we're supposed to have this chapter done by Monday."

"We can finish tomorrow."

"Today is Sunday."

"Wha- where did the weekend go?"

"Well," she rolled her eyes. "You slept in until three yesterday…"

He sighed, walking over to fridge to grab a bottle of coke. This past week had been quite interesting for the both of them. The had so much to remember that all the details swam around maddeningly in their heads.

They had to lean and memorize the entire social system of Ann Arbor high. It had turned out that Sarah and Vince were pretty much the rulers of the school. They were the richest, most popular kids in the entire town, and they seemed to have the entire student body wrapped around their fingers. There was a select group of people who they actually let hang around them, and Krayonder had become part of them. He was the only reason they tolerated Specs at all; had he not refused to go anywhere without her, they never would've given her a second glance.

Specs really didn't like Sarah. She wasn't your typical mean, snobby cheerleader. No, she was much, much smarter. She was shrewd, and seemed to have a whole system to getting every little thing her cold heart desired. Vince was no better; he was more arrogant than anyone Specs had ever met, including Junior. She was really regretting accepting this mission; she sure as hell did not want to be Sarah's friend.

Then again, if she hadn't gone, there wouldn't have been anyone to watch over Sarah, make sure she didn't try any funny business around Krayonder.

The phone rang, and Krayonder ran over to get it; Robert was out at the store.

"Hello? Oh, hi. Yeah I'm- oh, really? What time? Great, we'll be there! Alright. See you tonight then! Bye."

He put down the receiver and ran over to Specs excitedly.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Vince. He just invited us to see _Jailhouse Rock _with him at the drive-in!"

"Isn't that an Elvis movie?"

"Yes!" he was grinning excitedly. "Man, it's so weird to think that he's like, somewhere on this earth right now, alive. Aw, just think about it; I am standing on the earth at the same time as the greatest musical genius of all time. This is like so totally awesome, I can't even explain!"

Specs rolled her eyes. "You are such a dork."

"And you are being way too serious," He poked her nose affectionately. "Lighten up, man! It's Saterday, we are young, the word is ours for the keeping!"

"You seem to be forgetting that we're not actually teenagers, that all this is just an act, and that we are adults on a mission."

"On a mission where we get to be teenagers. Come on, isn't there anything you never got to do as a teen?"

The irony of his question was so hilarious that she felt the need to laugh sarcastically; she hadn't done _anything _as a teen. She changed the subject quickly, in hopes to avoid a very awkward conversation involving her angst-filled teenage years. "So… What time do we have to be there?"

"In half an hour. The place is pretty far away, so we should probably start getting ready now…"

She ran upstairs. Her and Krayonder had stayed in their pajamas all day. (one of the best things about Saterday!) Looking at the clothes Lang gave her, she couldn't decide wether to just wear a regular skit and blouse, or to put on the dress. She was so tempted to dress up all nice just to make Sarah jelious. It was petty, but she loved whenever she would glare at her.

She finally decided on one of the nicer skirts. She didn't want to look like she was trying too hard.

When they got to the drive-in, the parked right next to Vince's car. Sarah stepped out and walked over to the window, a wicked grin on her face.

"I'm glad you guys could make it! Specs, darlin', Vince wanted to have a little talk with you."

"Oh… alright…" she got up, and Sarah immediately slipped into her spot, closing the door behind her.

_Oh wow, really, bitch? _she walked over to the corvette. Another girl was sitting in the back seat, a girl with mousey brown hair and huge green eyes.

"'Ay Specs!" Vince grinned. "This is my girl, Beth."

"Hello," she said quietly.

"So come on in, Specs, have a seat."

She sat down, right as the movie started. The three of them sat in silence for a while, and she began to feel very awkward. Finally, after twenty minutes, Vince started to talk.

"So Specs… That Krayonder guy… You two are pretty close, huh?"

"We've been friends for years."

"Oh, that's nice. Yeah, that's good and all but… well, sis has got a little thing for the guy, if ya know what I mean," he chuckled. "And she don't feel to good 'bout you getting so close to him. I'm not sayin' that you two can't be friends anymore, no, I would never say that. But I just wanted to tell you that you may want to reconcider if you have any… stronger feelings for him. It would be for the best though, right? I mean, you only want the best for your pal, and Sarah is the beast he could have."

Specs had no idea what to say. She felt her eye twitch just a little bit.

"Vince-" Beth started to say, but Vince cut her off.

"Not now, doll. Look, I wanna make sure you're clear on what I'm sayin'. Do we got an understandin'?"

She nodded, feeling numb. She didn't want to, no; she wanted to yell at him and then walk back to the car that Krayonder borrowed from Robert and slap the crap out of Sarah. But instead, she stood up. "Uh, I gotta go, uh… bathroom…"

Specs ran out, stumbling blindly as her eyes started stinging. She felt herself hitting something hard, and she realized that she'd run into a tree. She sunk down to the floor, leaning against the tree.

She hugged her knees, sobbing so hard her sides hurt. _"You only want the best for your pal, and Sarah is the best he could have…" _He was implying that he deserved better than her, that was for sure. She wasn't denying it, she knew it was true, but hearing someone say her fear out loud… It made it all the more real. She didn't just have horrible self-esteem issues; she really just wasn't good enough, not pretty enough for him.

Sarah was pretty. She was more than pretty, she was perfect. Well, almost perfect; she had a cold heart. A bitter frozen heart that was so different from Krayonder's kind, warm, beautiful one. If anything, he deserved much better than _her! _

Specs dryed her eyes, mustering up as much courage as she could. She couldn't let Sarah have him; if not for herself, than for Krayonder. He needed a girl with a good heart, even if she wasn't that girl.

_You want war, Sarah Rellis? You got it, girl. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. _


	5. Chapter 5

Krayonder was straight-up confused.

In his twenty-five years of life, he'd come to learn one simple thing; women are confusing. When he was about thirteen, he'd decided he would make it his goal to learn the secrets of these mysterious creatures and give the information to other young men who needed it. He even planned to write a book on it, and become a hero of mankind.

And now, many years later, he was still just as clueless as he was back then.

But at the moment, he wasn't worried about girls as a whole, no. He was worried about two girls specifically: Specs and Sarah.

Sarah was constantly hanging on him, batting her eyelashes. He would see her acting completely normal, but as soon as she noticed him, she would turn into this squealing, clingy mess of what looked like wild fangirling. To be honest, he found it extremely scary. He'd begun try and avoid her as much as he could, but it was a harder task than he'd anticipated. She seemed to be everywhere at once, attacking him with hugs from every corner.

And then there was Specs. She had begun to act, well… different. Maybe it was the makeup, or maybe it was the way she was dressing up all the time now, but something was defiantly up. He thought that maybe she had a crush on somebody, but who? He'd never seen her talk to anybody save for Vince, (who she seemed to hate.) Wesley, (who she'd only talked to once or twice.) and himself.

Who could it have been?

He needed a break from girls. They were amazing in small doses, but they could get overwhelming after a bit. So he was more then relieved when Vince suggested that the guys all pile in his car and go to this huge party in the town over. It would give him a night to relax and figure out what to do to get Sarah to lay off of him.

And more importantly, a night to figure out who Specs liked so he could beat them to a pulp. Unless it really was Wesley, 'cuz he was actually kinda cool. He would just have a loooooong talk with him.

When he met the guys in the school parking lot after class let out, he couldn't help but feel that he had interrupted something. Vince had grabbed onto Wesley's collar, and was glaring at him menacingly. Wesley, on the other hand, was looking up at him with his big green eyes as if he wanted to hide away in a hole.

"Uh… Hi…"

Vince turned to him, and the glare melted away instantly, as if he hadn't just been about to bite Wesley's head off. "Kray! You're here! Well, that's just about everybody, so lets get going!"

Aside from the three of them, there was two more guys tagging along. There was only four seats in the car, so they all had to squeeze in, half hanging out. It was completely reckless and unsafe, and Krayonder knew if he every tried that in his time, he would probably get pulled over. But in the fifties, nobody seemed to care. They passed several more cars full of teens doing the same thing. There seemed to be a certain disregard for authority in the air, and he loved it.

The party was at some guy's house. The house was _Huge_, big enough to fit any house Krayonder had lived in inside. (his parents had both been rangers, so he'd lived in small on-base apartments his whole life.) Vince told him that this guy's dad worked with his dad or something like that. The music was blasting so loud that he couldn't really tell.

Then he remembered; Vince's dad was the guy who made those blueprints they had to find. He'd actually forgotten that he was even on a mission.

He could almost hear Specs yelling at him. _"We're on a mission, Krayonder! We're not here to relive our teenage years!" _

But Specs was not there at the moment, so he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Not really in the mood to flirt with the girls who were staring at him, (which is what he usually did at parties.) he walked over to a wall where he saw a dartboard. He plucked the darts off and started throwing them.

Wesley walked over, drinking a coke absentmindedly. He watched him for a while.

"You're pretty good at darts, huh?"

"Totally! Only, one person has ever beat me, and that was Taz, so it doesn't really count."

"Who's Taz?"

Krayonder's eyes grew wide. He wasn't supposed to mention _anything _from his time. That little voice of reason in the back of his head that sounded a lot like Specs was really yelling at him now.

"She's uh… she's just this girl from my old school."

"Oh. That's an odd name."

"Yeah…" he changed the subject, hoping that Wesley wouldn't get suspicious. "Sooo… what was going on with you and Vince in the parking lot?'

He leaned back against the wall. "I hate that asshole."

"Why? What did he do?"

"You know his girlfriend, Beth?"

"That really quiet girl?"

"Yeah…" he sighed. "_Her._ Well, Vince keeps thinking that I'm trying to steal her from him."

"Then why don't you tell him that you aren't interested in her?"

"'Cuz I am," he banged his fist on the wall, so hard that it bruised his pale skin slightly. "Do you see the way he talks about her? He acts like she's an object, like some china doll! She deserves so much better than that! She's this amazing, beautiful woman, and- and, I-" he squeezed his eyes shut.

Krayonder looked at this boy, do different from Vince. Pale skin instead of tan, jet-black hair instead of fair blonde. Kind green eyes instead of harsh blue ones. A kind heart instead of a cold one.

He put a hand on his shoulder.

"I've seen her with bruises before," Wesley was shaking with anger. "Her parents are some of the nicest people I've ever met, so I know it's not them. He's hurting her, and I want to help her, but every time I get close to her, Vince loses it!"

"That's horrible," Krayonder thought about how many times he watch good girls in his high school years stick with bad boys, and they always ended up cold and broken. One girl, who had actually been a good friend of his, committed suicide in his senior year. He had been at a party when she died.

He felt sick.

"Come on," he said, patting Wesley on the back. "Lets get out of here, I'm not really feeling like partying."

"I saw an ice cream place just a block back when we were driving."

The two walked in silence, and for the first time, Krayonder really _saw_ Wesley. The boy was wearing an old, frayed jacket and patched up jeans. There was dark circles under his eyes. He looked almost like a puppy that had been kicked too often.

At the ice cream parlor, Krayonder ordered rocky road and Wesley ordered chocolate. When he saw the dark haired boy searching franticly through his wallet for money, he offered to pay for both of them. His cheeks had turned bright red, but after a bit of persuasion, he agreed. For the whole time they ate, they were completely silent. Anyone standing by would've said that it looked like the two boys didn't know each other well and that they had no idea what to say, but it was quite the opposite.

Krayonder knew what it was like to feel like to not be able to do anything about something. Sometimes, all you needed to feel a bit better was to have someone there, to be your friend.

They walked back to the party when they were done, where they found Vince and the other guys looking for them. It was well past midnight, and they all wanted to go home. Vince's eyes were glassy, and he reeked of alcohol, so Krayonder drove everybody home and walked from Vince's place (which was even bigger than the other guy's house.) to Robert's house.

Once inside, he really didn't want to go to his room. He just felt really sad, and he didn't want to be alone. He knew it was babyish, but he needed to be with Specs.

He tiptoed over to her room and quietly opened the door. The light from the hall fell onto her beautiful face, as she slept peacefully. A single auburn curl had fallen over her eyes.

She was so beautiful.

He shut the door behind him, and Specs slowly opened her eyes. "Krayonder?" she slurred sleepily.

"Specs, I- I'm sorry for waking you up, man. I was sad and… I need you."

She scooted over and patted the bed, motioning for him to lay down next to her. He gratefully dashed over and pulled the blanket around them. She cuddled close to him, resting her head on his chest. As he put his arms around her, he felt this wave of peace fall over him. There was bad people in the world, true, but there was also her in his arms, and that was all he needed.

"Goodnight, Specs."

She mumbled something, her eyes already closed. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, the love he felt for her swelling up in his chest.

They fell asleep interlocked in a sweet embrace, their hearts beating in time.


	6. Chapter 6

_His arms were warm and inviting as they wrapped around her, pulling her closer into his chest. She silently took in his scent, his touch. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, or that she would ever feel again._

"_Goodnight, Specs," he left a sweet, tender kiss on her forehead._

_She listened to his heartbeat, her eyes closed. It was soothing, like a lullaby, and she soon found herself nodding off to sleep._

"Mmm…" Specs sighed contently, as her History teacher rattled on and on before the class. Usually, she was very good at paying attention. But today she was too preoccupied to even bother.

That vision was so real to her that she couldn't tell whether it was a memory or merely a wonderful dream. She vaguely recalled Krayonder climbing in her bed after that party, but when she'd woken up in the morning, he was gone. She had been so disappointed when he wasn't beside her that she actually started crying. Waking up in his arms had been a fantasy of hers for a long time now, as pathetic as that sounded.

Perhaps that had all been a dream, and he hadn't slept with her at all. She supposed that would have been for the best anyways.

At the desk in front of her he sat doodling in his notebook, not paying any more attention to the lesson than her. From this view behind him, she could admire his shoulders and arms perfectly. He truly was a handsome man. Far too handsome for his own good.

"-And I want this essay on my desk by Tuesday afternoon," the teacher said, but the last of her words were drowned out by the bell ringing. "Class dismissed."

"Man, I am so glad that's over!" Krayonder laughed as he caught up to Specs in the hall. "I swear, if I have to listen to one more word in her monotone voice…"

She almost laughed at how clueless he was. It was so surreal to be completely coming loose at the hinges, not being able to tell the difference between dreams and memories, and here he was, just freaking fine. It was so damn hilarious that she thought she just might bang her head against the wall fifteen million times.

They walked into Mr. Holmes' classroom and took their seats. He wasn't there himself, and he didn't arrive until a good couple of minutes later.

"Alright," he said as he stumbled in, his hair all mussed up. "I'll ignore that some of you are late, if you ignore that I'm the latest. Now, what scene are we on?"

"We finished the play yesterday," someone called out.

"Oh… Okay, then, I know exactly what we're gonna do…" he shuffled around his desk and grabbed a large stack of papers.

"The thing that makes Shakespeare so timeless, is that almost everything is left to interpretation. If you flip to any page in the book, you can see that there is very minimal stage direction written in. 'Enter.' 'Exit'. 'Fight'. 'kiss'. Everything else is left to the imagination. So, to see how each of you interpreted Much Ado About Nothing, I've put together a little project for you guys," he held up the stack of papers.

"You will be working in groups-"

There was a ripple of "Yes!" throughout the room.

"-That I will choose."

The entire class sighed disappointedly. Krayonder turned to Specs and shrugged. She knew that he wanted to work with her badly, because he didn't think anyone else had the patience to help him stumble through Shakespeare.

"Each group will be given a small section to perform, to show how you interpreted the play." He began listing off scenes and groups, as Specs silently prayed that she would get with somebody who at least slightly cared about getting a good grade. So many of the illiterate gorillas, a.k.a, her classmates, didn't even try to respect the work of one of the most amazing writers ever to exist; many of them had random doodles in their books. Who the hell did that? In Specs' time, books were considered a rare artifact.

"Ms. Willowson and Mr. Moses, you two will be playing the roles of Beatrice and Benedick in act three, scene one. You'll only be doing the end part when it's just your two characters."

Krayonder grinned excitedly, winking at her as Mr. Holmes handed them the scripts. She glanced at the first line.

"_Benedick: Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while?"_

She knew what part of the play this was instantly; it was when Beatrice and Benedick confessed their love for each other. It was actually one of her favorite scenes. Actually, she loved every single scene with Beatrice and Benedick in it; the two characters had amazing chemistry together. That was probably why Holmes chose them to do it; they would be able to perform well because they were such good friends.

Specs wondered for a moment if she had made it so obvious that she was in love with Krayonder that Holmes had seen it; he was definitely the type of teacher who would play matchmaker with his students.

"Krayonder?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you stop kicking my chair?"

"Oh, sorry, man," he apologized, and proceeded to tap his pencil on the table.

He and Specs had gone to Donna's after school, and they now sat with their scripts in front of them. She had insisted that he write down the subtext (the lines, but in his own words), telling him that it would help him understand the scene better. He had to know the subtext to write it down though, which was the hard part.

"Do you think we could do this later, Specs? My brain hurts."

She rolled her eyes. "We took a break five minutes ago-"

"Please? Pretty please with a milkshake and fries on top?"

"No."

He pouted, sipping his cherry coke. He hated how she could just glance at the words and know exactly what them meant. Reading normal English was hard enough for him, but Elizabethan was ten trillion times harder. The words swam about on the page like fish.

"Come on, man!" he begged. "I'm not smart like you, I can't do this!"

She set down her pencil and looked him in the eye. "You're too hard on yourself. If you really put your mind to it-"

"Put my mind to it? Put my mind to it, of course, I had no damn idea that I should do that! If I had a dollar for every time someone told me to "put my mind to it," I would be the richest man in the whole 'effin world! Contrary to popular belief, I actually try to do well in school. But I just can't, I can't make my brain work right. So don't tell me I'm not trying, man! I'm trying harder than you could even imagine. So don't even say a damn thing!"

Specs stared at him, cheeks red. Mumbling under her breath, she gathered all her stuff. "I-I.. I'm just going to walk home. Bye."

She walked out the door, leaving Krayonder alone at the table. He sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Just a tip," Mr. Hummel-Anderson said from where he stood behind the counter. "Girls don't like it when you yell at them."

He glared at the old man. "No, really?"

"I know, shocking, right?"

He didn't have time to deal with a sarcastic old man; he felt really bad about yelling at Specs, and he need to do something to make it up to her. He picked up his stuff and started to walk out the door when her suddenly bumped into something so heavily perfumed that he started to choke.

"Hi, Kray!"

"Oh… hello, Sarah."

She stood way too close to him, batting her eyelashes as if something was stuck on them. "Hey, I forgot to tell you at school, but I'm having a party this weekend… You wanna come?"

A party… Krayonder suddenly put two and two together; a party would be at her house. A house where her dad's nuclear weapon plans would be. It was all coming together; him and Specs could sneak around the house, find the plans, and then they could make out or something… And even better, if he told her this, she wouldn't be mad at him anymore!

"Awesome! I'll tell Specs, and we'll be there!"

Her smile fell. "Oh… You're going to invite her?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I saw her storming out like you guys had a fight or something…"

" We did, but it's going to be ok. I mean, we get into fights all the time, but we always work it out."

"Oh… great." Her expression, however, said otherwise. "I'll see you there then…" He ran out the door and hopped into the rental car that Robert rented for them. Hurrying as fast as he could, he pulled out of the parking lot and dashed down the street. About halfway home, he saw her walking.

"Specs! Specs! I gotta tell you something, man!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was in the school play and didn't have much time to write. But here it is, Chapter 7! :D**

"I feel like a spy," Krayonder grinned as him and Specs drove to the party. _"Secret Agent Moses._ I should have like, a theme song or something."

"Look, no fooling around today, let's just get in and out." Specs really didn't like the idea of going to a party, especially one at Sarah's house. But this provided the perfect cover to search the place for the blueprints. It wasn't likely that a nuclear scientist would want to be doing work while there was a large party going on, so this would be like taking candy from a baby.

_Who knows,_ she thought. _Maybe by tonight we'll be headed back to our own time._

The gigantic house was completely packed, with teens even hanging out in the front yard. It seemed as if every teenager from Ann Arbor to Chicago had showed up, and the majority of them looked drunk off their asses. She instinctively grabbed Krayonder's hand; she did not want to get lost in this crowd.

Vince was in the doorway, laughing loudly. As they tried to scoot past him, she almost got dizzy from the amount of alcohol she could smell coming off of him. They had just managed to squeeze through when Specs felt a rough hand grabbing her arm, making her involuntarily yelp.

"Relax, girl, it's just me."

Somehow, Vince's drunken slur did nothing to help her "Relax".

"Oh, um… Hello…"

"Heeey… I want ya to meet this friend of mine," He started dragging her off. She tried to hold onto Krayonder, but before she knew it, a wild Sarah had pushed him away into the crowd.

_Shit._

She was still a bit disoriented when she ran right into something that felt a lot like a dense bag of meat. She backed up and found herself looking up at tallest, thickest guys she had ever seen.

"Ay, Randall, this is the gal I was talking 'bout," Vince said.

_Randall. _The name struck a bell. She remembered that he was on the football team, and he'd almost gotten kicked off multiple times for reasons people always liked to speculate about.

"Hmm…" the boy's voice was deep, and resembled a gorilla grunting. "You were right," he said, looking her up and down. "You were right."

She immediately got the awkward sensation that he had x-ray vision or something. "Well, it's been very nice meeting you, but I'd better go now…" She started to back away, but found her path blocked by Vince.

"Where do yooou think yer goin'?"

"I, uh… You know, places to go, people to see and whatnot…"

"The only person you talk to is Kray."

"Indeed."

"I may not be," he belched loudly. "exactly 'sober' right now, but I can tell when shit is goin' down… Remember our deal, Willowson."

"I wouldn't imagine forgetting," she knew sarcasm wasn't exactly the best approach to go with at the moment, but she couldn't help herself.

"Good… good. 'Cuz Sarah wouldn't be all too pleasant if she got the idea that you and Kray had a lil' somethin'-somethin' going on between ya. She's got claws, and sharp ones at that. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side."

Suddenly, Beth appeared right next to him. "Vince, baby," the sugar in her voice sounded completely forced. "Some guy by the punch bowl said that he bets he could beat you in an arm wrestle."

"What? No way! Come on, Randall, let's go show this punk who he's dealing with!" the two guys left.

Beth sighed. "Just a tip; stay away from Randall."

"Thanks. For saving me from becoming gorilla food."

"No problem. And… I'm really sorry for the way Vince has been acting. It's completely rude, and I'm going to try and make him stop."

Somehow, Specs didn't think she would be able to do that.

"I'm fine. Speaking of which, have you by any chance seen Kray?"

"I think he was over by the pool table. Follow me," The tiny brunette grabbed her hand, guiding her through the crowd.

They caught a glimpse of a very pissed Krayonder-less Sarah, which comforted Specs a little. He had managed to escape.

Again, a hand grabbed her wrist, but this one felt warm and familiar.

"Specs!"

"Krayonder!"

He smiled, relieved. "Come on, I found the workshop!"

"The _what?" _Sarah asked, confused.

Krayonder looked back at her, panicked. "We- we gotta go, nice seeing you, Beth!"

And for the third time that night, Specs found herself being dragged through the house.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, worry all across his face. "Vince- he didn't… do anything or-"

"I'm fine."

"Oh, good."

She couldn't help but smile. He looked so relieved, and it suddenly hit her how much he cared about her. It was so endearing that if they weren't in a packed party and in the middle of a mission, she would've given him the biggest hug ever.

"Alright," he said as they reached a door at the end of an empty hall. "It's right down here."

"It's going to be locked."

His smile suddenly fell. "Shoot. I didn't think about that."

"Don't worry," she laughed, taking a bobby pin out of her hair. "I got this."

She began to work on the lock, chuckling. "They told me this skill was useless. Just goes to show you…"

There was a little pop, and sure enough, the door opened as soon as she turned the knob. "Come on," she said, turning back as she walked in. "Let's go!"

Krayonder looked completely amazed. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I read about it in an old book."

"Wow…"

She smiled, playfully grabbing his collar. "Let's go."

They crept down the long, dark flight of stairs, barely daring to take a breath. In the silence, they could hear the faint humming of music. But there had no music playing upstairs…

"Haha!" Someone exclaimed below. From their position on the landing, they could see a man with wild silvery-blonde hair standing in front of a drawing board that held some large blueprints.

"_That's him," _Krayonder mouthed.

Specs nodded. They wouldn't be able to get the plans while Dr. Rellis was still down there, but she had accounted for that. Never taking her eyes off of him, she reached into Krayonder's pocket and pulled a notepad out. (She wasn't quite sure, but she thought she heard a strange whimper come out of his mouth as her knuckles brushed his leg.)

She began sketching as much of the blueprints as she could see.

"Why are you coping it down?" he whispered.

"If we can't get it today, I want to at least know where he's going with it."

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Beth was behind her, eyes wide. She looked at the notepad and gasped.

Krayonder instinctively climbed up and covered her mouth with his hand, holding her away from Specs.

_Now we're in trouble, _she thought.

Downstairs, Dr. Rellis banged his fist down on the table. _"_No, no, NO! It's all wrong, wrong, wrong!" he proceeded to tear the blueprints completely in half.

Krayonder and Specs shared a confused look. _What do we do now? _

The best idea, they both thought, was to figure out what to do with Beth. Not quite sure how exactly to go about that, they ran up the stairs, leaving Beth behind.

"What are we going to do now, man!" Krayonder asked as they ran through the part, pushing past clumps of people.

"I have honestly no clue!"

They finally got outside and just ran, not quite sure where they were going. They hadn't even realized that they left the car. Right once they thought they had gotten far enough away that they could take a breath, they heard footsteps against the pavement; Beth was following them.

They were also stuck at a dead end.

They turned around, unsure of how to get themselves out of this one.

"What is going on!" Beth yelled at them, sounding sterner than they had thought possible for her.

"Beth, this isn't what it looks like-"

"No? That what is it?" She glared. "I know what Dr. Rellis' job is. Why are you coping down plans for nuclear weapons?" her eyes grew wide. "Dear god, you two are spies, you-"

Once again, Krayonder ran over and put her hand over her mouth, but she was expecting it more now. She thrashed about and kicked, trying desperately to get out of his grasp.

"What are we gonna do?" he asked. "She's gonna get the police or something… We should tell her the truth, man."

"But Admiral Lang-"

"Would rather we tell one person than have the cops find out."

"Alright." she sighed. "Beth, I'm going to tell you why we're here, but you have to promise you won't tell _anyone. _A lot of good people may die if anything goes wrong with this. Ok?"

"Fine."


End file.
